Reviews533 total reviews with an average rating of 3.6

Overall Experience:
Lawrence is a rigorous school and requires you to be involved. In fact, most of the issues that are being addressed are student lead. There are still campus issues, though, and Lawrence is a growing community. Appleton is an okay community, but its not a college town.

Party Scene:
It is a lot of dance parties and beer pong, it gets repetitive after a while. There are the same DJs and bands at all the parties. Doing things with small groups of friends tends to be the most done, and most variable.

Greek Life:
Sororities do not have any special housing, frats have the nicest and newest houses on campus. The frats host all the big events on campus. The sororities are basically cliques you pay to be in.

Athletics:
Our teams don't do well expect for fencing, softball, track and swimming. Hockey and basketball, depend greatly on the year. The facilities are pretty good, but not big enough for all of the sports, and hard to get to. Fencing, winter track and swimming are at the on campus gym/wellness center which is not build for high preforming athletes. The sports teams are not well liked by the campus and games/meets are poorly attended.

Off-Campus Dining:
When you have a car, off campus options are a lot higher. Ones in walking distance are almost all small mom and pop options and a lot of bars and pizza. In walking distance there is every price range, and Taste of Thai is delicious and basically on campus and will deliver to your dorm.

Administration:
Academic rules are highly enforced and strict. Parking rules are fairly serious since we don't have much. Drinking is very lenient as long as you don't go to the hospital. Underage drinkers that get their stomachs pumped are reported and do have a court date. Drugs and noise is fairly strict as well.

Campus Housing:
It may not be the nicest or the cleanest, and upperclassmen get infinity better rooms. However, the rooms are all larger the normal dorms and putting together the furniture is incredibly easy. There is no air conditioning in most the dorms, but most of the school year is cold.

Overall ExperienceWhat's this?

It is easy for a college student to complain about the school they attend. Lawrence has a unique environment, and it has its oddities and drawbacks, but most students can’t imagine being anywhere else. At other small liberal arts colleges, many students complain about the confines in academics and often too-true stereotypes of a campus full of spoiled rich kids. Nothing could be further from the truth here. The opportunities in both the college and the conservatory are exceptional for any school, and a student can achieve as much he or she aspires for. The college attracts an impressively diverse assortment of students, a trait they hold highly, and it does as much as it can to keep finances from being a deterrent to enrollment. The campus consists of future classical pianists, marine biologists, poets, hockey players, jazz trumpet players, and doctors. With dedication, motivation, and straight-up hard work, they can achieve their goals.

So the food is terrible, the town is dull, and your wild party fantasies may remain unfulfilled. But it’s all part of the school the students love to hate and hate to love. A lot of freshmen go through a phase of wishing they could transfer, but almost no one does. Lawrence is not flashy or ostentatious, and at first glance, it is unimpressive. The campus is very small, but after living here, students would instead describe it as modest and warm. By graduation, students reluctantly realize that this small school in Appleton, Wisconsin, was where they were supposed to be.